The Sunshine Family (and Little Dude) Does Disney Again! - PTR - Sept 2011 UPDATED 7/25 - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
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Unfortunately, that coupon doesn't work on pins. I tried to use it at the DisneyStore.com and no good.
BUT, you may get a great manager who says "what the heck!!" and gives it to you anyway.
So YES , with or without coupon, same arrangement. Obviously we need another "mine mine mine" for Ms OceanGirl up there (psst - send me your address OceanGirl so I can ship it to you).
Ah, bummer. Oh well, either way, I need to get to the store this weekend if I'm going to use the coupon.
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Disney World Trips So Far: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2016a (2016b in planning)
Just to quote Nemo (well Dory really) every time one of the kicks gets cranky we always saw - "hey Mr. Grumpy Gills" that seems to jolly them out of things. Well that or "Not much fun for little Harpo"
A quick update - broken into parts. I haven't finished writing up this entry, but it's taking too long and an update is needed - so a small cliffhanger ahead. Hopefully later this afternoon or tonight I'll be able to post part 2.
First off - we are PIFfed!! Paid-in-full
~*~*~*~*~*
One really good thing about writing up a pre-trip report, even when you start one so early, is that it really does help when you put “pen to paper” and rough up some schedules. I’ve also been using the same document as a journal/diary on a more personal level, trying to organize my thoughts.
Earlier this week I was writing down my four biggest road blocks in planning. About half way through writing down the fourth item, I suddenly realized how I could solve #3 and #4 (which revolved around using up all the table service credits and DB’s time on the trip to hold Little Dude so that we can still do roller coasters.) It seemed so simple once I thought of it. I just needed to fully identify the problem.
The first item was solved by looking at information a different way.
I’ve been using touringplans.com to help figure out which park on which day. And there is a lot of information there. I’m very sensitive to the crowd issue with Stitch, so I’ve been trying to make sure that our schedule falls somewhat in line with what they recommend.
Then I had that V8 moment while looking at 9 days worth of park data. I really didn’t need to know which park was best for any given day. What I really needed to do was avoid the worst parks/crowds. Once I simplified the spreadsheet to only highlight the bad days, then it could be distilled into one column: “Worst Park of the Day.” Now I could make all the plans I wanted, so long as I avoided the worst park(s) of the day.
And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I distilled the information that way, the plan became so obvious. Example, there really is only one option for Thursday: Epcot! DHS is going to be slammed. MK, while not marked as “avoid,” still has very high crowds. And we’re only doing AK on Wed. So now I know what we’re doing that day.
Once the plans were a bit more firm, I could tackle my second road block - what to do about Fantasmic! If you read my trip report from Sept 2010, you know that towards the end of the trip I started writing up the “next time list” when it became obvious we weren’t going to get to certain things on that trip. One of the first things I wrote down was Fantasmic! So, obviously, this was a priority for me. And now that it was playing every night during September, this should be easy to figure out.
The problem is that DHS in general is a hard park. The shows are great, and we’re looking forward to them. But that means sitting in a crowd for 20-30 minutes. And then seeing a night time show where you sit in a very packed crowd for an hour. So, really, it’s not one of the better parks for us.
I sketched out the plans, and starting looking to see what nights were free to try Fantasmic!
Just to quote Nemo (well Dory really) every time one of the kicks gets cranky we always saw - "hey Mr. Grumpy Gills" that seems to jolly them out of things. Well that or "Not much fun for little Harpo"
Love that movie
I've become so obsessed with this movie that I now have it on my iPhone so I can watch it on my commute (via train! Not while driving!)
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Day: Tuesday
Worst Park: AK
Our Plans: ?/MK
Food #1: Cinderella's Royal Table - early dinner
Food #2: Halloween at 7pm
You’ll notice I have the Tomorrowland Dessert Party listed twice - that’s not a typo. Through this board, I learned that Tinker Bell is, indeed, very real! And she really does ride the zip line right before the Fireworks. So that became an obsession for me. Then, while reading up on the Dessert Party, I realized that this is the best way for us to see Wishes Fireworks.
The Dessert Party is a limited entry event, maximum of 200 people. Disney staggers everyone’s reservations so there is not a rush to the dessert line. Your table is reserved, with your name on it. From what I’ve read, you can either line up at the railing to see the Fireworks or stay in your seat depending on where your table is. If you do line up at the railing, it’s generally only one person deep and not a huge crush of people. We did try to see Wishes on our last visit and Stitch barely made it through the Electric parade before falling apart - the crowds were just too much. But here is a spot, where you have a decent (not great) view of the fireworks, and they do crowd control! I mean really, I can’t think of a better way to enjoy Wishes in Magic Kingdom!
When traveling with special needs, and there is something important you want to do, it’s always good to have a back up plan. So I have the Dessert Party booked twice. The first time, Tuesday night, is just Wishes, no parade. It will be just Stitch and me, sorta doing a dry run of the event. Unless something happens and things don’t work out, we’ll just skip it. I’m aware that there are no refunds after 24 hrs before the event. These are the breaks you deal with when traveling with special needs. It’s also something that I can afford to do, I can afford to have this type of backup plan, which makes our lives easier. (I’m feeling a little defensive about this, probably because it’s a good chunk of change that I’m dropping on the two parties )
The second time, on Monday, it will be the three of us and both the parade and Wishes are scheduled for that night. So I plan on leaving Stitch and DB inside the Terrace while I dance on the sidewalk like a 5 year old during the parade. Stitch might be able to see some of it from inside the restaurant. Since the parade is not a priority for her, she’s good with the partial or no view. And DB, being the super flexible guy he is, doesn’t care if he sees it or not. He’ll just take pictures of me being 5 Then we’ll all gather at our reserved table, with our reserved desserts and watch the Fireworks together and actually be able to enjoy it.
Again, if something should happen that day to trigger Stitch, then we won’t go. But hopefully we’ll have gone the Tuesday before. Having two chances for the party takes the pressure off of Stitch. She won’t feel the need to “suck it up and stick it out” because, frankly, that doesn’t work. Options are a must for us when traveling.
I know everyone on these boards is a planner, and that you all have plans, backup plans, and then some more plans. But when traveling with special needs, sometimes having those backup and back-backup plans have to be at a different level. I know CinderAbby (Darlene) was feeling that while trying to plan out her trip this week, and then getting caught up in the politics of work and not having energy to plan anything for The World. I can sympathize. I have it easier as Stitch is (usually) fully verbal and we can discuss ideas, plans, changes together the three of us. It really does bring planning a vacation to a whole new level.
I think you have made some wise decisions and I love having the idea of the extra day planned for the dessert party. I highly recomemend it, we have enjoyed it a few times and even though the view is not directly on, we have always loved the view and having Tink fly by us...it makes the night.
If I had to make a choice the Dessert Party and Wishes would come first for us as well over Fantasmic. We love the show but honestly speaking, the crowds drive me a bit nuts and we pass the show over many times just so we do not have to deal with it.
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Unfortunately, that coupon doesn't work on pins. I tried to use it at the DisneyStore.com and no good.
, with or without coupon, same arrangement. Obviously we need another "mine mine mine" for Ms OceanGirl up there 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Either one works for me. If gift card, Disney or a general Visa one?
NEW: 
(Miss Molly)
Holly: 
while looking at 9 days worth of park data. I really didn’t need to know which park was best for any given day. What I really needed to do was avoid the worst parks/crowds. Once I simplified the spreadsheet to only highlight the bad days, then it could be distilled into one column: “Worst Park of the Day.” Now I could make all the plans I wanted, so long as I avoided the worst park(s) of the day.
those V8 moments when everything finally becomes clear! Congrats on PIF! 
Glad the plans are coming together! 
)
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